Fight Over Transit Line Goes Up The Hill

January 24, 1986

An effort by members of the Chicago congressional delegation was underway Thursday to reverse a federal requirement that city officials say threatens construction of the long-awaited Southwest rapid transit line.

The Urban Mass Transportation Administration late last week informed local officials that the city would be required to set aside a sum equal to about 10 percent of the project`s $496 million cost to cover any expense overruns.

If the requirement sticks, it would make it ``extremely difficult`` to go forward with the line, said a city source who asked not to be identified.

``Where are we going to find that kind of money? Even if we got a performance bond, we`re talking about an expense equal to about 1 percent of project cost.``

But Ralph Stanley, UMTA administrator, described the controversy as a

``tempest in a teapot`` and said the reserve requirement should have no effect on the project`s feasibility.

U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D., Ill.) has mounted a lobbying campaign to reverse the reserve requirement.

``I have been calling people in UMTA, sending letters and calling people in the Department of Transportation,`` he said Thursday. ``I`ve enlisted the assistance of the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Dan Rostenkowski, and I`ve contacted other members of the Chicago delegation to see what they can do to assist us in relieving us of these new restrictions.``

Rostenkowski, a Chicago Democrat, is one of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill.

Lipinski said the requirement for a reserve fund came as a surprise.

``To me, the most upsetting aspect of this is the fact that UMTA never made the request before,`` he said. ``Why are they making this request at this particular time?``

Stanley said his agency routinely requires reserves from cities embarking on big new projects. He cited new transit lines in Jacksonville, Fla. and San Jose, Calif. as recent examples.

The UMTA chief said that the 10 percent level of required reserve for the Southwest line ``is a negotiable item`` and that it is ``not in any way threatening to the project.``

City plans call for construction of the Southwest, to run between the Loop and Midway Airport, to start in November.

The line is designed to relieve traffic between the Southwest Side and downtown on the Stevenson Expressway and Archer Avenue, which together represent the most heavily traveled bus corridor in the country.